83 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Saturday, November 26

Looking for something to do on Saturday? The Straight’s got you covered. Here are 83 events happening in or around Vancouver on Saturday, November 26.

 

CONCERTS

Canadian folk-Celtic fiddlers and spouses Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy play the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts.

San Francisco garage-rock band Thee Oh Sees play the Rickshaw, with guest Alex Cameron.

Canadian indie-rock band Paper Lions plays the Biltmore, touring in support of latest album Full Colour.

The 17-piece South Van Big Band performs big band jazz at Cottage Bistro.

Former Supertramp member Roger Hodgson performs solo tunes and Supertramp classics at the River Rock Show Theatre.

Vancouver blues-rock outfit Richard Quan and the Progressive Blues Experience plays the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, with guests the Red Street Blues Band. Proceeds to Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

Led Zeppelin tribute band In the Evening plays the Backstage Lounge, with guests American Woman (guess Who tribute) and Bad Moon Risin' (CCR tribute).

Vancouver garage-rock duo the Pack A.D. plays Fortune Sound Club, with guests Dead Quiet and the Uptights.

Choralation A Cappella performs selections from Pentatonix, the Beach Boys, Taylor Swift, and Muse, with proceeds to the St. James Music Academy.

Ace Hood is featured at the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver's Quest for Fire independent artist showcase.

 

BENEFITS

Vote on your favourite gingerbread creation and get your photo with Santa at Grouse Mountain, with proceeds to SOS Children’s Village B.C.'s programs and homes for local foster children and homeless youth.

The ongoing Lights of Hope Christmas lights display at St. Paul's Hospital raises funds for the St. Paul's Foundation.

A collection of charities and local small businesses offer their crafts to holiday shoppers at Woodward's Atrium, with proceeds to the Canadian Breast Cancer Society.

Take a self-guided tour of five homes on Vancouver's Westside and help support kids in the community through Kids Help Phone.

Shop for handmade knitting, jams, fresh baked goods, books, artwork, kitchen and household items, antiques, and accessories at South Granville Seniors Centre, with proceeds to the centre.

Run, climb, and crawl your way over 10 obstacles strewn throughout a five-km course at Confederation Park, with proceeds to help fight cancer.

Have your pets professionally photographed with Santa at Tisol Pet Supply and Nutrition, with proceeds to Dhana Metta Rescue Society.

Shop for Christmas gifts at the Port Moody Christmas Craft Fair, with proceeds to the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation.

 

ETCETERA

The Vancouver Christmas Market opens at Jack Poole Plaza, featuring traditional German cuisine, mulled wine, gingerbread, German beer, a Christmas pyramid, a large heated tent overlooking the North Shore, entertainment, a carousel, and vendors selling gifts and treasures.

Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum features light displays, vintage shop-window displays, a visit with Father Christmas, live entertainment, fresh heritage baking, kids' crafts, a sing along, and a scavenger hunt.

Two-day Portobello West market at Creekside Community Recreation Centre includes over 85 vendors, drinks, live music, and food trucks.

Vancouver Public Library writer-in-residence Sam Wiebe leads a special tour of the Vancouver Police Museum collection, where participants can view objects, photographs, and archival materials and stay for a write-in.

Buy original woodwork, gifts, games, crafts, jewellery, and baking at the Brock House Society Christmas Fair, which also includes a silent auction and carolers.

Over 40 vendors offer jewellery, soaps, clothing, and baby items at a Holiday Bazaar at Fort Langley Community Hall.

Enjoy a pancake breakfast and pick up some crafts, jewellery, clothing, and baked goods at the Elders' Winter Bazaar at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre.

Holiday Craft Fair at Richmond's South Arm United Church brings together crafters, bakers, and other vendors to showcase their unique items for sale to the public.

Wear an ugly Christmas sweater to a singles party at Moose's Down Under Restaurant that includes icebreaker games and Christmas-themed activities.

 

FOOD & DRINK

The Hopscotch Festival's Grand Tasting Hall presents an opportunity to taste over 300 products at the PNE Forum, iincluding premium and craft beers, scotch, whiskies, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and liqueur. 

 

FORUMS

Two-day self-defence workshop at Valkyrie Western Martial Arts Assembly covers how to identify potentially dangerous people and situations, physical-defense techniques, and de-escalation techniques.

Integral City's Marilyn Hamilton draws on Integrally-inspired maps and frameworks to reveal opportunities for us to learn from, and engage with, our urban habitats more fully. Two-hour workshop takes place at Grace MacInnis Co-op Community Room.

 

KIDS' STUFF

The fifth annual Candytown Christmas celebration in Yaletown features visits with Santa Claus and the Ice Queen, live music, roaming characters, stilt walkers, face painting, crafts, balloon animals, and the Pokémon Holiday Tour. 

Family-friendly Disney ice show--featuring characters from Cars, Toy Story 3, The Little Mermaid, and Frozen--continues at the Pacific Coliseum.

Help Santa search for his missing elves during an exhilarating simulated flight-ride experience across Canada and on to the North Pole at Flyover Canada.

Family-friendly entertainment with Pinocchio, Geppetto, and Jiminy Christmas at Surrey Arts Centre's Pinocchio the Pantomime.

Discover the history of the magic lantern while using your creativity to help weave a story at Coquitlam's Mackin House.

The Vancouver Peace Choir will present a one-hour concert of fun holiday music ideal for families with young children at Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre.

 

COMEDY

Ongoing performances at the Improv Centre of the Vancouver TheatreSports League's Christmas Queen 3: The Bachelorette Edition, an improv show that sees the titular character star in her own reality TV show as she looks for love with Elf on a Shelf, Jack Frost, Scrooge, the Grinch, and even Santa.

Canadian comedian Scott Dumas performs the last of three nights of standup at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club.

American comedian, actor, and travel writer Tom Rhodes performs the last of three nights of standup at the Comedy Mix.

Comedic debate at Seven Dining Lounge covers which ignored middle child makes better use of their genius (Lisa Simpson vs. Malcolm) and who is the greatest headmaster (Professor X vs. Dumbledore).

Comedians Abdul Aziz, Alicia Tobin, Katie Ellen Humphries, Levi McCachen, Alain Williams, and Ryan Gunther try to make sense of the world’s most treasured works of art at Hot Art Wet City Gallery.

Comedy by headliner Steev Letts at XY, with guests Justin Nichols, Jo Dworschak, Alex Biron, and Randee Neumeyer.

Highbrow fusion of Shakespeare served with a side of improvisational mischief at Havana Theatre.

 

ARTS ETCETERA

Day two of the three-day student art sale at Emily Carr University of Art + Design features original paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculpture, photographs, prints, wearable works, housewares, and greeting cards.

Burlesque Marathong at the Rio Theatre features performances by Cherry On Top, Ruthe Ordare, Virago Nation, Ava Lure, Burgundy Brixx, Sparkle Plenty, Faye Havoc, Bruce Wang, Clare Voyeur, Diamond Minx, Ruby Slickeur, Ginger Avenue, Minnie Perron, Moonlit Moanah and Bambi Venison, Sandilicious, Malvina Masvino and Rosie Thornbush, Dee Lushious, Oliver Tits, Mz B Havin, Donna Boss Rogers, Rainbowglitz, Clara Can Can, and Aurora Wilde.

 

DANCE

Free performances at Artstarts of ZarYevka Ballet’s The Jabberwocky, a narrated story ballet featuring giant puppets and colourful costumes. 

Coastal City Ballet opens its sixth season with a mixed-repertoire program at West Vancouver's Kay Meek Centre.

Dance to tango music spun by Maestro Louis at West Point Grey Community Centre.

 

GALLERIES

Fear, Hope, and Longing III, an exhibition of David A. Haughton's paintings of Vancouver Island's western coast, is showing at Visual Space Gallery.

Walker Evans: Depth of Field at the Vancouver Art Gallery features more than 200 black and white and colour prints from the 1920s through to the 1970s.

Stare exhibition at Vancouver Art Gallery features photographic works that evoke a fixed and concentrated gaze on the part of artist and viewer.

Juxtapoz x Superflat exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery offers a unique insight into contemporary art and its place in cultural life.

 

LITERARY

Author Sachi Komura Rummel presents a talk and book signing at Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre for her book Hiroshima: Memoirs of a Survivor.

Celebrate indie authors at West Vancouver Memorial Library with a book fair, conversations, and tips and tools for success.

Join poets Gregory Scofield and Tim Bowling with Elizabeth Bachinsky for the launch of their new books at The Paper Hound.

JackPine Press presents the release of handmade poetry chapbooks Pioneer 10, I Hear You (Donna Kane) and Flip-flops Faces and Unexpurgated Lives! (Kevin Spenst) at Cafe Deux Soleils.

 

MUSEUMS

Layers of Influence: Unfolding Cloth Across Cultures at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC features more than 130 diverse cultural garments, from Japanese kimonos, to colourful Indian saris, to the elaborate feather cloaks of the Maori people of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

The Museum of Anthropology at UBC hosts an exhibition that features the carvings of Papua New Guinea's Iatmul people.

At the Museum of Vancouver, you can explore the cultural power and significance of collecting through wall-to-wall displays of unconventional objects.

 

MUSIC

Anu Tali conducts pianist Alexey Yemtsov and the Vancouver Symphony in a program of Alfredo Santa Ana's Ocaso, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, and Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 in E-Flat Major at the Orpheum Theatre.

The Erato Ensemble and the Living Oceans Society present an evening of music at the Orpheum Annex inspired by the sea. Includes works by Dominic Argento, Keith Bissell, Edward Elgar, Gabriel Faure, Clifford Ford, Leila Lustig, Edward MacDowell, Marga Richter, Glenn Sutherland and Susan Hughson, and William George.

Elektra Women's Choir presents a holiday concert at Ryerson United Church featuring seasonal favourites and new compositions, with guest pianist Jane Coop.

 

THEATRE

The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Avenue Q--the musical story of Princeton, a bright-eyed college graduate who arrives in New York City looking for love, a job, and his purpose in life--at Granville Island Stage.

Preview at the Waterfront Theatre of Carousel Theatre for Young People's presentation of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Performance at Studio 58 of Troilus and Cressida, in which director Kevin Bennett puts a modern spin on Shakespeare's drama that sees lovers yearn to be true and warriors strive to be brave.

At the Cultch, Touchstone Theatre presents Brothel #9, director Katrina Dunn's story about a young woman who is sold into a brothel by her brother-in-law.

Performance at the Firehall Arts Centre of Miss Shakespeare, a play about the creative journey of the Bard's daughter.

Performance at the York Theatre of East Van Panto: Little Red Riding Hood, Theatre Replacement's pantomime that sees Little Red Riding Hood battling bike thieves, distracted drivers, and the Big Bad Wolf.

Performance at Performance Works of Vancouver playwright Katey Hoffman's comedy, Green Lake, which explores growing up at summer camp and reconnecting with family later in life.

Exit 22 Productions presents its first production of Doris Baizley's adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol, at Blueshore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts.

Theatre in the Raw presents performances at Russian Hall of The Threepenny Opera, the musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that satirizes bourgeois capitalism and modern morality.

First Impressions Theatre presents Always...Patsy Cline--a play based on the life of the legendary country singer-songwriter--at Deep Cove Shaw Theatre.

Performance at Presentation House of Baking Time, a play for kids 3-and-up about a pair of bakers who encounter mischievous doughy characters and venture through forests of breadstick trees and magical floury storms. 

 

ATTRACTIONS

Grouse Mountain resort features a Skyride to the peak with views of Vancouver and the Pacific Ocean, as well as skiing and snowboarding, snowshoeing, ice skating, mountain ziplines, and the Peak of Christmas.

Edgewater Casino offers 24-hour gaming, over 60 table games, a poker room, a high-limit section, 500 slot machines, restaurants and lounges, and live entertainment, including concerts and televised UFC events.

At the Bloedel Conservatory you can take in more than 200 free-flying exotic birds and 500 exotic plants and flowers.

The VanDusen Botanical Garden features over 255,000 plants from around the world and almost two dozen sculptures.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge features seven suspended footbridges offering views 110 feet above the forest floor.

The Vancouver Aquarium features almost 800 animal species in galleries ranging from Canada's Arctic to the Amazon rainforest.

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is an authentic representation of an age-old garden tradition that reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty.

 

MOVIES

Day two of the three-day Vancouver Turkish Film Festival at Vancity Theatre features screenings of the films Ember (above), Kedi, Album, My Mother's Wound, Blue Bicycle, and Bad Cat.

The European Union Film Festival continues at the Cinematheque with screenings of A Noble Intention from the Netherlands and Mom and Other Loonies in the Family from Hungary.

Screening at the Rio Theatre of writer-director Matt Johnson's Operation Avalanche, about two young CIA agents who go undercover at NASA to investigate a possible Russian mole during the Cold War.

 

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